Land vehicle construction



May 7, 1935. L. H. THOEN LAND VEHICLE CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 25, 1935IENTOR.

LOWELL H. THOEN %7"7U? Patented May 7,1935 2,000,364

UNITED STATES PATENT o -Flci:

LAND VEHICLE CONSTRUGTIONU Lowell H. Thoen, StocktonjCalifI, "assignorto Caterpillar Tractor Co., San Leandro, Calif., a corporation ofCalifornia Application August 25, 1933, Serial No. 686,806

2 Claims. (Cl. 280-160) This invention relates to improvements in landuseful under these and similar conditions of op vehicles andparticularly to those which are used eration.

on rough ground; and the objects of my improve- The purpose of the checkbreaker is to break ments are: to provide a means on a land vehicle thecheck and to otherwise smooth the surface 5 for smoothing the ground onwhich the vehicle of the ground n adva ce o t e W el. In D ao- 5 is tobear; to provide a check breaker constructice, these check breakers takedifferent forms and tion which is efiicient in operation and which canfor pu poses of illustration, one form It is shown be economicallymanufactured. These objects are associated with front wheel I. Anotherform I5 attained by the mechanism illustrated in the acis s ownassociated with rear Wheels 6.

companying drawing, Check breaker l4, as shown in Fig. 1, is pivoted 10Fig. 1 is a right side elevation of a machine emon pivot rod is carriedin similar brackets I9 on bodying the invention, disclosing checkbreakers the frame, y one of d brackets being S mounted in front of thewheels of a combined harin Fig. l- Brackets i 9 also provide theconnecve ter-thresher tion from drawbar 6 to the frame of the ve- Fig. 2is a perspective view illustrating the form hide The check breaker ismaintained in oper- 15 of check breaker associated with the front wheelsatiVe position by Chain 23 Suitably Secured in in Fig. 1, certainportions thereof being broken angle ets 25 s. 1 and 0n the check away todisclose the construction more clearly. breaker d t0 the dfawbery meansof Chain Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the form P a M of theCheek breaker can be adj t d of check breaker associated with the rearwheels to different positions of inclination with. respect 20 in Fig. 1,certain portions thereof being broken t the ground. or swu o ahorizontal pos on away to disclose the construction more clearly. Whenit is not in use. The mounting and adjust- Figs 4 and 5 illustrate thirdform of h k ment of check breaker I4 is fully described in breaker, myco-pending application, Serial No. 485,142, F1g 41s a, rear elevation,filed September 29, 1930, Of which the instant 25 Fig. 5 is a sideelevation. application is a continuation in part. The vehicle chosen forillustration is a com- 2 i strates that the blade construction binedharvester-thresher which is composed of Comprises a oulved platereinforced along its the usual harvesting mechanism suggested in Fig.verti al edges by an s 33 and al n its cuttin 1 by supporting means as hi l framework 2 face by plate 34 and is stiffened across the back, 30carried thereon and supporting at its leading opposite the ChainConnection, y a b lower edge siclde bar 3 a by reel 4 which creasedbearing surfaces at the pivot points is operates ith i ld bar 3 inplacing t t grain obtained by attaching square plates 36 as shown. onthe draper for delivery into the feeder house 8. The tool is readilyfabricted y Welding the pa 35 From there the grain passes through thethresh'er together- 35 and separator 9 from which the straw is deliveredCheck breaker [5 (Figs. 1 d 3) iS D at It and grain kernels at H. Apower plant 12 being upp r d y an le bar 3 whi h is adaptis usuallyprovided for driving the working parts ed to be adiusteblv clamped inbracket 38 which of the harvesting and threshing mechanisms. The isrotatably pp ted on t e frame of the mathreshing machine is Supported ona main fram chine as fully disclosed in my above noted ap- 40 5 havingthreemoint Support On'rear wheels 5 plication. Chain 48 provides aconnection from and front wheel I and is provided with a drawbar check jto f? of the maahine l6 for connection to a tractor, as at IT. The todetermme its rotated posltlon' framework 2 of the harvester is connectedto the Blade (Fig' t g t i fsuppgrtframe 5 in the usual manner. mg arand Sal a 8 1s orme 0 p ate bent at substantially a right angle to whichis Surface of the gtound on whlch, machmes preferably welded anglebar/3i; Angle bar 56 is for this purpose operate 18 frequently quiteuneven, welded across the back o the blade to rein particularly in thoselocalities where irrigation is force it resorted to, in which casechecks l3 are usually Check breaker 10 (Figs 4 and 5) is similar m 50formed to retain the water- To harvest grain the check breakerillustrated in Fig. 2. In this wn in this manner, the harvesting machines form of check breaker, the blade construction subjected to severestrain in passing over the comprises curved plate II, reinforced alongits uneven ground and check breakers constructed in vertical edges byangles 12 and. along its cutting 65 accordance with the invention areparticularly face by angle 13 which provides a stiffening rib.

Angles 12 are apertured adjacent the top as at 14 to provide pivotpoints for attaching the check breakers to a vehicle. The tool isfabricated by welding the parts together. The above described checkbreaker construction is particularly adapted for use with vehicles whereno angular adjustment thereof with respect to the ground is required.The check breaker is pivotally mounted in a suitable manner on thevehicle which has frame portions positioned behind the check breaker toprevent yielding thereof when an obstruction is encountered. This formof check breaker may be used, for example, in front of the endlesstracks of a track-type tractor.

I, therefore, claim as my invention:

1. A check breaker adapted for positioning in front of a groundcontacting member of a land vehicle comprising a plate, a reinforcingangle secured to the back of said plate adjacent each of the verticaledges of said plate, another reinforcing angle secured to the back ofsaid plate adjacent the cutting edge thereof, said first-mentionedangles having pivot providing means for pivotally attaching said checkbreaker to said vehicle.

2. A check breaker adapted for positioning in front of a groundcontacting member of a land vehicle comprising a curved plate, areinforcing angle welded to the back of said plate along each of thevertical edges of said plate, the upper ends of said angles beingapertured to provide means for pivotal connection of said plate to saidvehicle, and another reinforcing angle welded to the back of said platealong the cutting edge thereof for providing a stiffening rib.

LOWELL H. THOEN.

